IMEP-41

Determination of inorganic Arsenic in food

The IMEP-41 exercise focuses on the selective determination of inorganic As in food.

The aim of this interlaboratory comparison (ILC) is the validation of a method (collaborative trial) for the determination of inorganic Arsenic (iAs) in food products by flow injection hydride generation atomic adsorption spectrometry (FI-HG-AAS) and is organised in support to Commission Regulation 1881/2006. The extraction method is based on (i) the solubilization of the protein matrix with a high concentration of hydrochloric acid, which denaturates the proteins and allows the release into the solution of all the arsenic species, and (ii) the subsequent extraction with chloroform of the iAs present in the acid medium.

Participation in IMEP-41 is only after invitation to NRLs and food control laboratories having experience in this kind of analysis.

Registration is free of charge.

Test items and analytes

The test items to be analysed are eight foodstuff samples with unknown iAs mass fractions.
Two bottles will be sent from each test sample.
The measurand is inorganic Arsenic in freeze-dried food samples

General outline of the exercise

Participants are requested to perform 3 independent analyses following the method protocol submitted together with the test items to each bottle in two different days. Participants should report the measurements for each replicate. Detailed instructions on how to report data will be sent together with the samples.